


Think Fast, Think Again

by protectchatnoir



Series: Think Fast [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Death, Gen, actually it's probably better than the first two parts, after the first few chapters it picks up, and recovery and happiness and whatnot, and then we're all about making things right, but I'll put warnings in the notes before chapters, mourning and stuff, probably mentions of blood and hospitals, this is certainly a cheery fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-05-23 12:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14933976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectchatnoir/pseuds/protectchatnoir
Summary: Pressure can be tough. Sometimes, people crack under pressure.Not Adrien Agreste. Having literally one chance at bringing somebody back to life is, admittedly, a fair amount of pressure. But Chat Noir is back in business, and he isn't letting anyone drag him back down.Meanwhile, Marinette is suffocating under a somewhat more literal pressure. As in, her funeral is in a few days, and being buried isn't really her idea of fun. But there is no idea of hope left in Paris, and mourning Ladybug seems like the only remaining option.A tale of reunion, love and escaping rock bottom.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I'm back 
> 
> This part, part three, the final part. Oh boy. 
> 
> I'd say it's probably not as bad as the previous two, seeing as we're kinda on the final stretch now and hopefully things will end in an overall *cough* pleasantly resolved way *cough* maybe
> 
> Anywayyyyyyyyy!!!!!! This part is all about recovery and things being set right.
> 
> But that starts after the first few chapters.
> 
> Enjoy! :D 
> 
> ***
> 
> **WARNING!** this chapter contains violence, blood, death... all nice things like that! Please don't read if you are sensitive to blood/violence! It isn't extremely graphic but could be upsetting to some so proceed with caution!
> 
> ***

Chapter One

 

 _In the heat of the moment, in the blur and the panic, in the threat of imminent_ death, _Ladybug forgot her promise. Dropped her yoyo._

 

_Leapt in front of Chat Noir._

 

Oh, _she thought as she glanced down at the blade piercing her chest._  I guess that's why Master Fu and Tikki told me not to protect Adrien.

 

_And then the world went black._

 

 

***

 

 

Things were just a little more difficult now. Now that there was no Hawkmoth, and no Chat Noir, and no Ladybug. Because even if Chat Noir was still here, he was nothing. He didn't matter. Not now. It was miraculous, really, that he was still coping just fine. No awful relapses or anything like that; just a dull, numb, emptiness.

 

 

***

 

 

_Hawkmoth's eyes widened, and his transformation dropped. He hadn't asked it to, but it it did, and his kwami watched in horror. The blade somehow remained, despite his detransformation. It stuck into Ladybug's chest like a candle on a birthday cake._

_And she fell back into Chat Noir's arms. He clutched at her weak body, his mind fogging with horror and anger and-_

 

_Her eyes were wide, her mouth open, face frozen. Like someone had pointed a camera in her direction without warning. Her face contorted with confusion and then pain and then... nothing. Then her eyes were glassy and shining like a newly printed polaroid. She hadn't even had time to close them. She hadn't even had time to process the reality of the situation._

_She hadn't even had time to say goodbye._

 

_With tears streaming down his face, Chat Noir dropped Ladybug's lifeless form._

_'No._ No!'

 

_And he lunged at Hawkmoth- Gabriel, his father- and then they were on the floor and Gabriel's expression was suddenly blank and yet horrified and Chat was clawing at his throat, hurting him, drawing blood, red in his eyes, vision blinded by rage. Ripping the butterfly miraculous away from Gabriel and throwing it across the room._

_And then the reality of the situation truly hit him._

 

_And Chat Noir's body stopped functioning. He collapsed, slumped to the floor in a clumsy heap next to Ladybug's cooling body, and cried his eyes out._

 

 _He cried for his mother, his friends,_ Marinette, _Ladybug. He cried tears of mourning for not just his partner, but his father too._

 

_Because on that day, Gabriel Agreste had done something unforgivable._

 

_He had killed Ladybug._

 

_And now, to Adrien, he was dead._

 

 

_He wasn't really sure how long he lay there, but morning's light was beginning to break through the windows when he couldn't cry any more._

_At some point, Plagg had forced his way out of the ring and had spent hours stroking his face, muttering soothing words, trying to make things right._

 

_But nothing could make things right._

 

_He wasn't sure if his father was still conscious, or even alive. Had Adrien killed him? Huh. It wouldn't be the first time, right? He'd killed his dad before- when he was akumatized, right?_

 

_Somehow, though, it didn't matter. He lay still, eyes damp, but no longer crying. Breath ragged and uneven. Skin unbearably cold._

 

_'Adrien,' Plagg whispered. 'Come on, kid. I know this is really hard, but you have to get up now. We can mourn later, but we need to call for an ambulance now, okay?'_

 

_Adrien sat up silently and nodded. He felt a little dazed. His breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of Ladybug lying, unmoving, behind him. Adrien looked away. He brought his phone out of his pocket._

 

_'Hello?'_

_His voice sounded like it hadn't been used for quite some time. 'Hello. My name's Adrien Agreste. I need an ambulance, please. The Agreste mansion. My father is hurt...'_

_Adrien glanced at his father's body. He lay still, blood soaking his white jacket- but his chest rose ever so slightly every through seconds, indicating that he was still alive._

_'He... his throat is bleeding badly. I think he's lost a lot of blood. But it's been a few hours since the injury actually happened.'_

_He listened to the questions the person on the phone shot at him, trying not to completely space out or start crying again._

_'Yes. Yes, he's still breathing. But- Marinette's here as well. She's-'_

_Adrien tried not to choke on his words. 'I think she's dead,' he whispered._

 

 _Whilst he was waiting for the ambulance to arrive, he knelt beside Ladybug's lifeless form and ripped the blade from her chest. It was_ bad _. It was really, really bad. Adrien felt a little faint at the blood pooling on the floor beside him. Her suit was hardly ripped, but it was stained so badly that Adrien couldn't tell where suit ended and blood began. He fought back the tears as he removed her earrings. With a meagre pink flash, Ladybug's dead body was replaced with Marinette's._ Marinette. No, no. Oh, no. _Scarlet immediately bloomed across her white t-shirt._

 

_'Adrien? What happened? I felt so cold and- no. No, no, no! No!'_

_Tikki gasped in horror as she took in the scene before her. 'No! Marinette!' the kwami wailed._

 

_'I'm sorry,' Adrien sobbed. 'I'm sorry I couldn't protect her. I'm so, so sorry.'_

 

_The first siren shattered the silence within four minutes. Tikki and Plagg found places to hide. And then there were people in the house, asking questions which Adrien answered quietly and then Gabriel was being carried out on a stretcher and so was Marinette except she had a sheet covering her and- no, no, this wasn't happening._

 

_People were asking him questions about what had happened and how he was still alive and- Adrien just shook his head._

 

_Maybe it was time for Paris to know._

 

_After all, Hawkmoth was no longer a threat. Not really._

 

 _Maybe it was time for Paris to know_ everything.

 

And that's how he ended up at the TV station. 

 

 

***

 

 

'My name is Adrien Agreste, and I have some terrible news. Awful, dreadful news. Ladybug is dead.' He paused. 'Ladybug is gone, forever. I know this because I was there. Because... because I am Chat Noir. And Ladybug-' another pause, this time to suppress a sob, 'was the one person in this world who understood me. Who really, truly knew me. Ladybug. My partner, my best friend, my fellow superhero. My dear, sweet classmate, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Yes, she was _Ladybug_. But she's gone. She's dead. And she's dead because of my father, Gabriel Agreste. Hawkmoth. The person who has been behind all of the akumas since the very beginning. If you haven't already heard about this, I'm sorry you had to hear it this way. I'm... I'm sorry you had to hear it at all. And... I'm sorry I couldn't protect her.'

 

The screen cut to black.

 

'I don't believe it,' Tom Dupain whispered into the darkness of the room. Of course, they'd already been told by the police, but this...

'I can't believe it. I won't. Not our Marinette, Sabine. Not our little girl.' 

 

Sabine sobbed on to his shoulder. 'No. No, it can't... I won't let her go, not like this. She-' 

A sob wracked the woman's body. 'She knew, Tom! She was _Ladybug_. And when she left last night, she knew. She knew she might never come home! She knew, and she said _goodbye to us,_ and we didn't do a _thing_ to stop her from walking out that door.'

 

Tom shut his eyes tightly. 

 

This wasn't happening. 

 

This couldn't be happening. It couldn't. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yeah, i hate myself too.
> 
> The end! Bye!! :) 
> 
> Just kidding, y'all can't dispose of me that easily! okay I have Things To Say 
> 
> First of all, go follow my new tumblr @protect-chat-noir! Tumble.hellsite deleted my account. Hopefully I will get it back, but that ^^^^^ is my new blog until further notice.
> 
> Secondly, a new chapter of The Butterfly Society should be up soon!
> 
> Third of all I'm extremely sorry that I've not been posting much writing recently. I've not been busy. Just lazy. Jk! very busy hA   
> No but really I've had a huge lack of motivation which brings me to my-
> 
> Fourth point! I was going to write the whole of this fic and post it on a schedule. But I've had NO motivation, and only written... three chapters. Whhhhhoops dhhskwkjdhd but i figured I'd upload them on a Friday schedule for now, and maybe I'll start writing faster and end up back with Mondays and Fridays. For now, expect chapters on Fridays :)
> 
> Number 5, it's my birthday on the 24th! This piece of information is highly irrelevant, however, I feel the need to share it nonetheless! :D 
> 
> 6: one new message hasn't been cancelled but there might not be a new chapter for another couple of weeks. Thanks writer's block 
> 
> 7) ISRTY is one of my favourite fics to write, but I've been kinda out of the voltron scene lately. Season 6 comes out tOMORROW tho, so I might be inspired to write some more!! We'll see ;)
> 
> No. 8: if you like steven universe, buckle up im writing something 
> 
> 9- these notes have gone on for way too long! If you've read them all god bless you/I love u thx/wow tHAT'S,,,,, dedications at its finest/omg you're crazy   
> Anyway if you've read this far, congrats, this is what my mind looks like at 1am 
> 
> SO UNTIL NEXT FRIDAY, I SUPPOSE! 
> 
> or tomorrow morning when i get bored and decide to post chapter 2 with no consideration of the damn schedule 
> 
> Farewell, my friends! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHISTLES LOUDLY 
> 
> welp. it's,, been a while, huh? 
> 
> anyways ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> i've had the first few chapters of this fic drafted for around a year now, and i'm not happy with them, but,,,, ngl this fic is so emotionally draining to write which is why 8i haven't been updating it. i didn't really have the energy to fix these chapters, and idk if i will now, so i guess i'll just post them as they are. 
> 
> honestly tho i just wanna finish this damn fic man it's been like a year and a half so welp here we go!

Chapter Two

Adrien was just pushing himself away from the wall and turning to the door to leave when his father woke up.  
'Adrien,' he whispered, the heavy bandages around his throat making his voice sound weak and underused. 'I'm sorry.'

Sorry. _Sorry._

Gabriel Agreste was sorry. Of course he was. But "sorry" didn't cut it. "Sorry" didn't _fix_  it.

Frowning, Adrien turned to face the man in the hospital bed. 'You should be,' he responded coolly. 'She was fourteen, Dad. Fourteen. That's too young. That is _too young._  And she's dead because of you. Do you have any idea of what you have done? Ladybug was everyone's hero, sure. But Marinette was everyone's _friend._  You should have seen their faces when they heard the news. _You should have seen their faces.'_

He left the room without another word.

 

Nathalie was looking after him for the time being. A team of bodyguards was constantly situated outside the building, keeping reporters and overfriendly fans at bay. The entire section at the bottom of the stairs was tied off with police tape and permanently monitored by police officers.   
It wasn't an ideal situation; but none of this was, and he couldn't do anything about it.

'Adrien, are you listening?'

Adrien shook his head. 'If you expect me to do schoolwork so soon after my father killed my best friend, maybe you should just send me to school.'  
Nathalie sighed. 'You know you can't leave the house. There are reporters everywhere- it would be far too dangerous.'

'What, so facing a few fans and journalists is _dangerous,_  but living with a murderer isn't?' Adrien retorted, and Nathalie sighed again.

'Come on, Adrien. You have to see reason. Your father never hurt anybody before Ladybug. Please try to calm down. He only wanted the best for-'

'You knew, didn't you?'

'Excuse me?'

'You knew. You knew that he was Hawkmoth. I can't believe you! You let me believe that I was safe whilst I was living under the same roof as a literal supervillain. How could you?' Adrien turned away and closed his eyes. This was _impossible._

'Adrien, please try to calm down,' Nathalie repeated. 'You're not seeing things from your father's perspective. And- your father won't allow you to leave the house. Please. You aren't seeing things clearly.'

'He won't let me leave? You know what? You're wrong. My dad isn't here. And everything's crystal clear, actually. Plagg, claws out!'

He ignored Plagg's distressed shouts about how this was probably not a good idea and would definitely end in disaster and-

Chat Noir turned to face Nathalie and snarled. She started backing away anxiously.   
'I hate you. _I hate you._ For everything you've done. You helped him, didn't you? And that ended with Marinette getting killed. Well, thanks! Maybe you should go apologise to her parents for your assistance in her _death?'_

Nathalie looked sad, and tired. 'I am sorry. Really, I never meant for it to go this far. Adrien, I do care about your safety. And I'm sorry about your friend.'

He turned and ran from the room.

By the time Chat Noir reached the school, the students were just returning to their classes after their lunch breaks.  
He skidded into his classroom just a minute late.

As Chat Noir. 

This was the first time he'd been in school for a while, and here he was, standing in the doorway as a superhero.   
Ah well. Everyone knew anyway. Everyone had seen his speech on the news. It was all over the papers. It was all over the internet.   
Miss Bustier shot him a sympathetic smile as he detransformed quietly and slid into his old seat next to Nino. 

She looked sad.

The whole class looked sad.

'Hey,' Nino whispered, as the teacher started the lesson. He looked sad too. He took Adrien's hand and squeezed it gently. 'How are you doing?'

Adrien just shook his head. He wasn't doing great. Better than before, of course, but... Ladybug was gone. Marinette was gone.

It was hard to believe.

Behind him, Alya made a pained noise and asked to be excused from class. Miss Bustier nodded, worry in her eyes, and Alya sprinted from the room.  
'I should go after her,' Adrien muttered, and followed Alya out of the classroom and into the corridor outside.

'Hey, Alya.'

'Hi. It's... it's too hard to sit there. To sit next to... the space where she should be.'

'I know.'

Alya closed her eyes and shook her head. 'I miss her, Adrien. I miss her so much. It's only been a few days, but... I can't believe she's really gone. It doesn't feel real. And it hurts. Like there's an empty space inside where she was and now she's gone it's so _cold-'_

'I know,' he whispered, and pulled Alya towards him, letting her sob on to his shoulder; probably ruining his designer shirt. 

Somehow, he didn't care.

'I know. Alya, it's going to get better. It's so, so hard right now, because she's almost... still here. It's like... I keep expecting her to walk into the room, and everything will just be normal again. But it won't be like that forever. Her memory is still so strong that she still _feels_  alive. After a while, it will fade out a little.'

'I don't- don't want to for- forget her,' Alya sobbed.

'You won't. She's not the kind of person who's easily forgotten.'

'You should have called us in. We... we could have helped. We could have done _something.'_

'Alya, it all moved so fast. We barley had any time to process what was happening. She barely... I don't think... I don't think *she* had time to process what happened.'

_It was her choice to protect him._

_No- her_ responsibility. _But he had seen that look in his father's eyes. He knew that Hawkmoth was just about to give in. Because Gabriel Agreste could never kill his own son._

_He hadn't needed protection, and yet she'd literally taken the fall for him. And there was nothing he could do about it except live with the guilt._

'Do you think she'll be okay?' Alya asked. 'Wherever she goes next, I mean.'

Adrien smiled through the tears he'd been neglecting to address. 'Yeah. Yeah, I think she will. She's _Ladybug._  She's strong. And people like her end up in good places.'

'Do... do you believe in heaven?'

He wiped his tears away with his sleeve and nodded. 'I've looked into Marinette Dupain-Cheng's eyes. So yeah. Yeah, I think I do.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah anyway skshdjdhskfbd the next few chapters aren't well written at all,, in all honesty i kinda panicked and backtracked but ah well, it's been like a year since i wrote these and i wanna get them off my chest so whatever 
> 
> i'm @protectchatnoir on tumblr if you wanna come find me!! 
> 
> also if you're still reading this and you've read this whole thing then dkhdjdhsjd i'm?? thank u?? all of this including the new chapters is old and bad writing and idk why anyone's still reading it bUt im really glad y'all still care skdjsndh like man i just wanna finish this goddamn fic yikes


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof here it is

Chapter Three 

'Do you want to go back to class?' Adrien whispered. 

'No. I... I want to see where it happened.'

'Alya, I don't know if that's the best idea. The police have been in the house, trying to assess the situation, trying to decide on a sentence for my father. We haven't really cleaned up yet. It's like a crime scene, Al. It _is_  a crime scene.'

Alya nodded, and took his hand. 'I know. But I still want to see it. What if we're missing something? What if there's a way-'

 _'Alya,'_  Adrien said quietly. 'She isn't coming back. They've planned her funeral, and they want to get it over with as soon as possible. She'll be buried in a matter of days at the most, but I hear they're planning it for tomorrow. And  
from what I've heard, her parents want it to be very quiet and low-key. No one other than family members will be attending. Then there will be a public memorial service, but- she's gone. By the end of the week, she will-'

 _'No._  They can't bury her. Not yet! not while there's still hope.' Alya turned away on him and ran both hands through her hair. 'I'm not giving up on her yet, Adrien.'

'Alya, she's dead. I watched her die. I know that it's really hard to accept, but... listen, you can come back to my house if it makes you feel better.'  
Adrien took Alya's hand again, and she smiled slightly. 

'Really? Awesome. I'm a great journalist, Agreste. I'll find something that everybody else overlooked. Don't underestimate me.'

 

The whole house was quiet and empty; the only sound was a clock's ticking echoing a little too loudly to seem welcoming.  
Although it was technically a crime scene, there wasn't really anything unusual or of interest in the room; only a fair amount of dried blood, as was to be expected, and the weapon which had killed Ladybug. 

'What's this?'Alya asked, ducking under the yellow police tape and picking up the blade.

'Alya, I don't think you should be picking that up,' Adrien whispered. 'That's the-'

'Weapon that killed her, I get it. But where did it come from?'

He frowned. 'Hawkmoth- my dad- drew the blade from his cane.'

Alya shook her head, confused. 'I thought the weapons disappeared when you detransform?'

'They do.' And then he remembered the night it had happened- the transformation dropped, and yet the weapon stayed. Why was that? He hadn't given it much thought at the time. 'So...the sword should have vanished. But it's right here.'

'Right. So... what if we need to get rid of it ourselves?'

'Alya, what are you getting at?'

'Maybe if we throw it in the air like Ladybug does, it will reverse everything that happened that night?'

Frowning, Adrien shook his head. 'No- come on, Al. There was no akuma. Ladybug didn't use her lucky charm. It's no use. We should give up now.'

'I've told you, I'm not giving up, Adrien. Maybe we can ask someone? Like... the kwamis! Or that guardian guy?' Alya questioned. 

'Master Fu? I don't think-'

'Well, think again! Anything's worth a try, right?'

Maybe Alya was right. Maybe it was worth a try?   
Adrien tried to banish that thought from his head. Because Ladybug was gone, and no matter what he did, nothing would change that.   
She was gone, and she wasn't coming back. Not now, or ever.  
And yet, somehow, Alya's persistence and ceaseless strength was something he admired. 

And, somehow, it lit a small spark of hope inside him. Adrien tried to extinguish it, because there was a very high chance that he'd never see Laybug again. But... maybe, with just the right amount of luck...

He tried to extinguish the spark. He really did.

But it grew a little, and a little more, until it became a small yet strong flame. 

And that's how Adrien Agreste and Alya Césaire ended up standing outside Master Fu's massage shop that very same afternoon. 

  
'Master Fu,' Adrien said quietly upon entering the familiar room. It was silent, and cold. The windows were wide open despite the chilly weather. "It's Ladybug- Marinette. She's... when we went up against Hawkmoth, She was hurt. She was... she was killed.'

The man sat in the middle of the room, head bowed in sadness. 'I am aware, Chat Noir. I understand. I understand that I have failed her. But you haven't; not yet. Adrien, I do not have much time. Ask for guidance from Tikki. Use the sword. You only have one _chance.'_

'What? What do you-'

Before Adrien could finish asking his question, Master Fu began fading from sight. Adrien's eyes widened, and Alya gasped in the doorway behind him. It seemed as if the guardian was somehow crumbling or... disintegrating? Within mere seconds, there was nothing left of him but a fine dust, which made its way out of the open window on a seemingly non existent gust of wind.

'What the _hell?'_ Alya whispered. 'What just happened? Where did he go?'

'I have no idea.' 

'What now? Is he... dead? Why? What's going on?'

'Alya, I don't know.' Adrien crossed the room to look out of the window. There was no sign of Master Fu anywhere. It was as if he had never been there in the first place. 

'Adrien, what's this?' Alya asked, reaching down to pick up an oddly shaped box from the floor.

'Let me see that,' he muttered, and took it from her; Adrien opened it to find the slots for his and Marinette's miraculous, along with the bee, fox, butterfly and turtle. They were all empty. 'Alya, this box held the miraculous. We need to return ours to the box to keep them safe; I doubt we'll be needing them anytime soon.'

Alya slipped the necklace from around her neck and placed it in the smaller box she carried in her bag. 'Here's the fox miraculous. We need the bee from Chloé, and... we have the earrings. And Hawkmoth's miraculous- and your ring. But what about the turtle?'

'It's here.'

Alya and Adrien both turned to see who had spoken. It was Wayzz, Master Fu's kwami, holding the turtle miraculous. 'As long as you have all of the miraculous in a safe place, things should be fine,' the kwami said. 'But you may need to choose a new guardian. As I'm sure you are already aware, it is not wise to wield two of the miraculous at once.'

Adrien nodded solemnly. 'Okay. I have some questions. What happened to Master Fu? And what did he mean when he said... when he said I haven't failed her yet? What does that mean? 'Use the sword'? What does that mean?'

'Hush, child. All will be clear in time. We must leave now, and make preparations.' 

Alya frowned and glanced at the box containing the miraculous. 'Preparations? Preparations for what?'

Wayzz looked surprised. 'Why, for Ladybug's return, of course!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway im so sorry for the long wait but here i am finally updating this dumb fic djdjdndbbd
> 
> plz don't judge me for this really shitty writing, it's from like a year ago and i was a Mess tm so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oop here

Chapter Four

_Ladybug's return._

The words buzzed in his ears. 

No- no way, there was no way, right? 

Adrien opened his mouth to question the kwami, but no words escaped, and everything started to fade. _No, no, no, he had to- he had to ask what-_

suddenly everything was dark and quiet and then he heard Alya's voice.   
'Wake up, Adrien. Wake up.' 

Had he fainted? 

 _Wake up._  
Adrien opened his eyes, and everything was blindingly white. 

 _Bad, bad, sick, awful light._ He closed his eyes again, meaningless sound ringing in his ears. 

And then voices:

'-ever wake up?' 

'I'm sure he will, Alya. I... I hope he will. I can't live without him.' 

'I know, girl. I know.' 

Wait, he knew those voices. 

_Confusion and hurt and bad bad bad what was going on?_

He tried to sit up, tried to say something, anything, but his voice croaked and his body didn't move. 

 _What was happening to him?_ Just a minute ago he'd been walking with Alya. Was he- was he _dead?_  Did he die? 

'Adrien?' 

_He knew that voice._

_Marinette._

His eyes opened once again, and met hers.

'I am dead,' he whispered, voice weak and broken. 

Alya was there next to her- had she died too? It didn't matter, though, did it? He was here now. Where? That didn't matter either. Not really.

'What? _Dead?_  Adrien, you're not- Al, call a doctor, I think he's in shock.'

In shock? What did she mean? Marinette was here, and she was dead. That meant he was, too. Right? 

'What's going on?' Adrien asked, his voice still not sounding quite right. _He'd been speaking fine earlier, right?_

'It's okay,' Marinette said. 'It's going to be okay. Alya is getting a doctor, and they can help you. Okay?' 

Her voice was so, so gentle, and Adrien started crying then.   
 _She doesn't know,_  he thought. _She doesn't know that she's dead._

'Hey, hey, don't cry! Adrien, it's okay, we're safe now.' 

'No, we're not! Look- look at us! We're... we're dead! At least, you are, I don't really know why I'm here, but maybe- I don't know. I don't understand. I don't understand any of this!' 

 _It didn't make any sense._ Marinette was looking at him like he was crazy. 

And then Alya came back with a man in a white coat who spoke to Adrien softly and did something with a machine near him and Adrien hoped whatever the man was saying wasn't important because he really wasn't registering it anyway and the space around him seemed to close in on him like a warm blanket and Adrien felt like going back to sleep. Had he been asleep before? He wasn't sure. It didn't really matter though. 

Nothing really mattered right now.

If he was really dead, maybe he could just rest.

*** 

'He said something about being dead. I don't know if he was having nightmares or something.' Marinette rested her head on the table and sighed. 'Before he even went into hospital in the first place, he was having these dreams... often about hurting people. And he'd believe that it really happened. He thought I was dead back then, too. Maybe that's what's going on now.' 

Nino nodded, pouring a cup of tea and placing it gently on the table in front of her.  
'Yeah, that sounds legit. The doctors said he was in shock, right? Maybe the shock screwed with his head, y'know?' 

'Maybe, but I really hope he's not had a complete setback. We came so far; it felt like he was almost completely himself again.'

Alya shook her head. 'I knew he shouldn't have gone in there. If you'd sent for us, we could've-' 

'Come on Alya, we've been through this,' Marinette sighed. 'It all happened so fast, we couldn't have called for backup. Plus, the only reason Hawkmoth surrendered was because he realised he was about to lose his son. He might not have gone as easy on you guys.' 

'He's probably just super confused, right? I mean, I don't know what's going on in his brain,' Nino began. 'And I wasn't at the hospital when he woke up, so I dunno. But maybe he's just completely... disconnected from reality.' 

Marinette nodded. Nino was right; Adrien probably had no idea where he was or anything.  
'It'll get better. He'll get better. He has to.'

'You just have to keep believing in him,' Alya said gently, rubbing Marinette's arm affectionately. 'We'll get through this. His head was all messed up before, and he got better. You helped him, Marinette. You can help him again.'

'I'm not so sure, Alya. Helping him before- it was awful. He was suffering so much and I didn't know what to do-'

'Yeah, but he isn't your responsibility anymore,' Nino chipped in. 'Not like last time. He'll stay here in the hospital and get better. All we have to do is be here for him. It's not on you anymore.'

Marinette pulled a face. 'I know, but he thinks I'm _dead._  I think he thinks _he's_  dead, too. Oh, I don't know. I'm so confused.'

'He got better before.' Alya took her hand and squeezed it gently. 'He's _Adrien._ He'll pull through. He always does.'

'Mm, I sure hope so...' Marinette whispered, glancing away. She was worried, of course, but she knew her friends were right. Adrien would be alright. He wasn't just Adrien, he was *Chat Noir,* and Marinette believed in him. Of course she did.

'Guys, let's just go do something to take our minds off it,' Nino suggested after a minute. 'There's nothing we can do for him right now. Let's go play video games or something and just distract ourselves for a while. We've been through enough.'

Nino was right, and Marinette knew it. There wasn't anything she could do to help Adrien at the minute, and relaxing was important. She couldn't let her own wellbeing spiral. She had to be there for Adrien, she had to be strong for him.

She had to be strong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp! hopefully things start getting better from here!!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @protect-chat-noir on tumblr if ya wanna find me there :D


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